Ancient Forest Alliance
FIND A PAGEFIND A PAGE
  • Home
  • About Us
        • The six AFA team members stand beside each other in front of an old-growth Douglas-fir tree.
        • Our Mission & Team
        • History & Successes
        • Work With Us
        • Contact Us
  • Our Work
    • Campaigns
    • Building Alliances
    • Activity Reports
  • Ancient Forests
    • Hiking Guides
    • Old-Growth 101
    • Old-Growth Forests in BC: FAQs
    • Before & After Old-Growth Maps
    • Myths & Facts
    • Directions to Avatar Grove
    • Port Renfrew Big Trees Map
  • Recent News
    • Recent News
    • Media Releases
    • Research & Reports
    • Publications
    • Educational
  • Photos & Media
        • Map of Gallery Locations
        • Themes
          • Biggest Trees
          • Biggest Stumps
          • Low Productivity Old-Growth
        • Videos
        • Vancouver Island North
          • East Creek Rainforest
          • Klaskish Inlet
          • Quatsino
            • Grove of Giant Cedars Clearcut in Quatsino Sound
            • Quatsino Old-Growth Under Threat 2023
            • Mahatta River Logging
          • Spruce Bay
          • Tsitika Valley
          • White River Provincial Park
        • Vancouver Island Central
          • Barkley Sound
            • Vernon Bay
          • Clayoquot Sound
            • Canada’s Most Impressive Tree – Flores Island
            • Flores Island
            • Meares Island
          • Cortes Island
            • Children’s Forest
            • Squirrel Cove Ancient Forest
          • Nootka Island
          • Port Alberni
            • Cameron Valley Firebreak
            • Cathedral Grove Canyon
            • Juniper Ridge
            • Katlum Creek
            • Nahmint Valley
            • Nahmint Logging 2024
            • McLaughlin Ridge
            • Mount Horne
            • Taylor River Valley
          • Tahsis
            • McKelvie Valley
            • Tahsis: Endangered Old-Growth Above Town
        • Vancouver Island South
          • Carmanah
            • Climbing the Largest Spruce in Carmanah
            • Carmanah Research Climb
          • Caycuse Watershed
            • Before & After Logging – Caycuse Watershed
            • Before and After Logging Caycuse 2022
            • Caycuse Logging From Above
            • Lower Caycuse River
            • Massive Trees Cut Down
          • Klanawa Valley
          • Koksilah
          • Mossy Maples
            • Mossy Maple Gallery
            • Mossy Maple Grove
          • Port Renfrew
            • Avatar Boardwalk
            • Avatar Grove
            • Big Lonely Doug and Clearcut
            • Bugaboo Ridge Ancient Forest
            • Eden Grove
            • Exploring & Climbing Ancient Giants
            • Fairy Creek Headwaters
            • Granite Creek Logging
            • Jurassic Grove
            • Loup Creek
            • Mossome Grove
            • Mossome Grove Tree Climb
          • Walbran Valley
            • Castle Grove
            • Central Walbran Ancient Forest
            • Hadikin Lake
            • Walbran Headwaters At Risk
            • Walbran Overview
            • Walbran Logging
        • Haida Gwaii
        • Sunshine Coast
          • Day Road Forest
          • Mt. Elphinstone Proposed Park Expansion
          • Powell River
            • Eldred River Valley
            • Mt. Freda Ancient Forests
          • Roberts Creek Headwaters
          • Stillwater Bluffs
        • Inland Rainforest
          • Ancient Forest/ Chun T’oh Whudujut Provincial Park
          • Parthenon Grove
        • Mainland
          • Echo Lake
          • Kanaka Bar IPCA Proposal
  • Take Action
    • Send A Message to the BC Government
    • Sign Petition
    • Sign a Resolution
  • Store
  • Donate
  • Click to open the search input field Click to open the search input field Search
  • Menu Menu
  • Store
  • Donate
News Coverage
Loggers painted a sad face with its tongue sticking out making a mockery of the old-growth devastation in the background. Upper Walbran ValleyFeb 17 2011

No Paradigm Shift in BC Government, But New Recognition of Public Mood for Protecting Avatar Grove and Expanding Old-Growth Protection

Feb 17 2011/News Coverage

Tweet

Ancient Forest Alliance plans public hike to Avatar Grove on Sunday, February 27

Forest activists reacted with amusement at comments made by the BC government and a logging industry representative in a Times Colonist article “BC looking for new ways to protect ancient trees” on Tuesday.

In the article the Forests Minister Pat Bell states, “BC has more old-growth today than we’ve ever had,” and that “we are not running out of old-growth on Vancouver Island…”

 

“Somehow a century of industrial logging has actually increased the amount of old-growth forests on Vancouver Island, according to the BC government. Maybe the Ancient Forest Alliance should take up logging to increase the amount of old-growth forests in BC!” joked Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) executive director. “The BC government still retains its old mindset about old forests, as they’re still into their silly spin-doctoring – clearly they haven’t experienced a paradigm shift about our old-growth forests. However, the fact is this government has always maintained such nonsense – the main difference now, the new thing here, is their acknowledgement that there is a real public mood in seeing greater protection levels for our old-growth forests, including the Avatar Grove and BC’s largest trees. Of course we welcome this acknowledgement on the need to expand old-growth forest protections.”

 

The Ancient Forest Alliance is planning another public hike to the Avatar Grove on Sunday, February 27. More details will be posted on its website www.ancientforestalliance.org next week.

 

Since the Avatar Grove was located in December of 2009 by Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner TJ Watt, the AFA has organized countless public hikes, slideshows, rallies, photography expeditions, letter-writing drives, and petition drives to get the area protected. There has been a torrent of local, provincial, and national media stories about the Avatar Grove, and support has snowballed to include the Port Renfrew Chamber of Commerce, Sooke Region Tourism Association, and local elected representatives at the federal, provincial, and regional levels including Liberal MP Keith Martin, NDP MLA John Horgan, and Regional Director Mike Hicks, respectively. The Avatar Grove consists of numerous monumental ancient redcedars, some 14 feet (over 4 meters) in trunk diameter, giant Douglas firs, and a few large Sitka spruce, all of which are heavily targeted by the old-growth logging industry. “Canada’s Gnarliest Tree”, a huge redcedar with a 10 foot (3 meter) wide burl, is also found in the Avatar Grove. The area was surveyed and flagged with falling boundary and road location tape by Teal-Jones by February of 2010.  See Avatar Grove photos at: https://ancientforestalliance.org/photos-media/

 

Almost 6000 people have now viewed the Ancient Forest Alliance’s new video clip (1 minute), “Canada’s Gnarliest Tree – Save the Avatar Grove” at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_uPkAWsvVw

 

“We’ll give thanks if Bell makes good to protect the Avatar Grove. Protecting our most impressive monumental trees and ancient groves is much needed, although most importantly we need to protect old-growth ecosystems on a larger scale. Saving the cherry on top while the voracious neighbour devours the rest of the cake will still deprive our children,” states Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance executive director. “The logging industry’s appetite has devoured 90% of our valley bottom ancient forests on Vancouver Island where the largest trees grow – they’ve had far more than their share. “

 

“There is an inevitable transition to logging only second-growth forests in southern BC as the old-growth stands run out – what we’re saying is let’s make the transition now while we still have some significant old-growth stands left,  for wildlife, tourism, the climate, and future generations. I think the majority of British Columbians would agree with that,” stated TJ Watt, Ancient Forest Alliance campaigner and photographer.

 

In Tuesday’s Times Colonist article, Rick Jeffery, president of the Coast Forest Products Association, also spin-doctored various statistics, claiming that there are more protected areas than lands available for logging (reality check:  most park lands consist of alpine rock and ice, marginal subalpine forests, and coastal bog forests, and contain a minority fraction of productive forest lands of value for logging), that most monumental stands of ancient trees are already protected (reality check: 90% of Vancouver Island’s productive old-growth forests in the valley bottoms, where the monumental stands grow, have already been logged, and a significant amount of the remainder is unprotected), and that the threat against a stand like the Avatar Grove is an exception.

 

“The Avatar Grove is just one example of the thousands of ancient forest stands currently under threat in BC, literally hundreds of which get clearcut each year – that’s a simple, sad fact. The difference with the Avatar Grove is that it is easy to get to and grows on gentle terrain so that large numbers of people have now seen this place. Most other endangered ancient forests are remote and difficult for the average person to get to, and thus their destruction goes unseen,” states TJ Watt, AFA explorer and photographer.

 

On Vancouver Island, according to satellite photos, about 75% of the original, productive old-growth forests have been logged, including 90% of the valley bottoms where the largest trees grow. See “before” and “after” maps at:

https://ancientforestalliance.org/ancient-forests/before-after-old-growth-maps/

 

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on X
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Walbran_Loggin_Sad_Face.jpg 529 800 TJ Watt https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.png TJ Watt2011-02-17 00:00:002023-04-27 14:13:22No Paradigm Shift in BC Government, But New Recognition of Public Mood for Protecting Avatar Grove and Expanding Old-Growth Protection
Search Search

Recent News

  • My Comox Valley Now: Commercial logging isn’t happening in BC parks; says BC MinisterJul 4 2025
  • Flores Island Tyson
    One-Year Anniversary of Clayoquot Sound Old-Growth ProtectionsJun 26 2025
  • Shooting StarsJun 13 2025
View All Posts

Categories

Archive

Find us on

  • Link to Facebook
  • Link to Instagram
  • Link to Youtube
  • Link to TikTok
  • Link to Bluesky
  • Link to Reddit

Take Action Template

Take action by sending an instant message to protect old-growth forests!

Related Posts

My Comox Valley Now: Commercial logging isn’t happening in BC parks; says BC Minister

Jul 4 2025
In a letter to the Ancient Forest Alliance and Endangered Ecosystems Alliance, Minister of Environment and Parks Tamara Davidson confirmed that there’s no commercial logging happening in provincial parks and it isn’t permitted under the BC Parks Act. The letter comes following reports of potential commercial salvage logging and fuel load reduction projects happening in these parks.
Read more
News Coverage
https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2-Old-Growth-Douglas-Fir-Kentucky-Alleyne-Park.jpg 1467 2200 TJ Watt https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.png TJ Watt2025-07-04 16:18:482025-07-04 16:55:54My Comox Valley Now: Commercial logging isn’t happening in BC parks; says BC Minister

My Cowichan Valley Now: Conservationists call for BC forestry industry to be modernized

Mar 24 2025
Conservationists call for BC’s forestry industry to be modernized amid ongoing US tariff threats.
Read more
News Coverage
https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/3-Eden-Grove-Ken-Wu-1536x1024-1.jpg 1024 1536 TJ Watt https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.png TJ Watt2025-03-24 16:23:282025-03-24 16:24:21My Cowichan Valley Now: Conservationists call for BC forestry industry to be modernized

Toronto Star: The best place to go forest bathing? The ancient groves of Vancouver Island offer a meditative journey back in time

Mar 21 2025
British Columbia is home to some of the most enormous trees on the planet. Credit for the rise of tall-tree tourism here goes to the Ancient Forest Alliance, a charitable organization that advocates for protecting B.C.’s endangered old-growth forests.
Read more
News Coverage
https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/1-Avatar-Grove-Tourists-1.jpg 1200 1800 TJ Watt https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.png TJ Watt2025-03-21 11:20:502025-03-21 11:27:17Toronto Star: The best place to go forest bathing? The ancient groves of Vancouver Island offer a meditative journey back in time
Two people stand on a rock by the Fraser River in Kanaka Bar territory.

VIDEO: Inside Kanaka Bar’s Conservation Plan: Protecting Rare Ecosystems & Indigenous Culture

Feb 21 2025
We're excited to share an amazing new video with you featuring the Kanaka Bar Indian Band's proposed T’eqt’aqtn Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA).
Read more
News Coverage
https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Inside-Kanaka-Bar-Video-Thumbnail-scaled.jpg 1440 2560 TJ Watt https://ancientforestalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/cropped-AFA-Logo-1000px.png TJ Watt2025-02-21 14:04:192025-02-28 17:05:19VIDEO: Inside Kanaka Bar’s Conservation Plan: Protecting Rare Ecosystems & Indigenous Culture
See All Posts

Take Action

 Donate

Support the Ancient Forest Alliance with a one-time or monthly donation.
How to Give

 Send a Message

Send an instant message to key provincial decision-makers.
Take Action

Get in Touch

Phone

(250) 896-4007 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm)

Address

205-620 View Street
Victoria, B.C. V8W 1J6

Privacy Policy

  • Link to Facebook
  • Link to Instagram
  • Link to Youtube
  • Link to TikTok
  • Link to Bluesky
  • Link to Reddit

Resources

  • Recent News
  • Old Growth FAQs
  • Research & Reports
  • Photos & Media
  • Videos
  • Hiking Guides
  • Old-Growth 101

Who We Are

  • Our Mission & Team
  • History & Successes
  • Activity Reports
  • Contact
Ancient Forest Alliance

The Ancient Forest Alliance (AFA) is a registered charitable organization working to protect BC’s endangered old-growth forests and to ensure a sustainable, value-added, second-growth forest industry.

AFA’s office is located on the territories of the Lekwungen Peoples, also known as the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.
Copyright © 2025 Ancient Forest Alliance • All Rights Reserved
Earth-Friendly Web Design by Fairwind Creative
Scroll to top
Ancient Forest AllianceLogo Header Menu
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Mission & Team
    • History & Successes
    • Work With Us
    • Contact Us
  • Our Work
    • Our Work
    • Activity Reports
    • Building Alliances
    • Campaigns
  • Ancient Forests
    • Hiking Guides
    • Old-Growth 101
    • Old-Growth Forests in BC: FAQs
    • Before & After Old-Growth Maps
    • Myths & Facts
    • Directions to Avatar Grove
    • Port Renfrew Big Trees Map
  • Recent News
    • Recent News
    • Research & Reports
    • Media Releases
    • Publications
    • Educational
  • Photos & Media
    • Map of Gallery Regions
    • Themes
      • Biggest Trees
      • Biggest Stumps
      • Low Productivity Old-Growth
    • Videos
    • Inland Rainforest
      • Ancient Forest/ Chun T’oh Whudujut Provincial Park
      • Parthenon Grove
    • Mainland
      • Echo Lake
      • Kanaka Bar IPCA Proposal
    • Haida Gwaii
    • Sunshine Coast
      • Day Road Forest
      • Mt. Elphinstone Proposed Park Expansion
      • Roberts Creek Headwaters
      • Stillwater Bluffs
    • Sunshine Coast: Powell River
      • Eldred River Valley
      • Mt. Freda Ancient Forests
    • Vancouver Island South
      • Climbing the Largest Spruce in Carmanah
      • Carmanah Research Climb
      • Klanawa Valley
      • Koksilah
    • VI South: Caycuse Watershed
      • Before & After Logging – Caycuse Watershed
      • Before and After Logging Caycuse 2022
      • Caycuse Logging From Above
      • Lower Caycuse River
      • Massive Trees Cut Down
    • VI South: Mossy Maples
      • Mossy Maple Gallery
      • Mossy Maple Grove
    • VI South: Port Renfrew
      • Avatar Boardwalk
      • Avatar Grove
      • Big Lonely Doug and Clearcut
      • Bugaboo Ridge Ancient Forest
      • Eden Grove
      • Exploring & Climbing Ancient Giants
      • Fairy Creek Headwaters
      • Granite Creek Logging
      • Jurassic Grove
      • Loup Creek
      • Mossome Grove
      • Mossome Grove Tree Climb
    • VI South: Port Alberni
      • Cameron Valley Firebreak
      • Cathedral Grove Canyon
      • Juniper Ridge
      • Katlum Creek
      • Nahmint Valley
      • Nahmint Logging 2024
      • McLaughlin Ridge
      • Mount Horne
      • Taylor River Valley
    • VI South: Walbran Valley
      • Castle Grove
      • Central Walbran Ancient Forest
      • Hadikin Lake
      • Walbran Headwaters At Risk
      • Walbran Overview
      • Walbran Logging
    • Vancouver Island Central
      • Barkley Sound: Vernon Bay
      • Nootka Island
    • VI Central: Clayoquot Sound
      • Canada’s Most Impressive Tree – Flores Island
      • Flores Island
      • Meares Island
    • VI Central: Cortes Island
      • Children’s Forest
      • Squirrel Cove Ancient Forest
    • VI Central: Tahsis
      • McKelvie Valley
      • Tahsis: Endangered Old-Growth Above Town
    • Vancouver Island North
      • East Creek Rainforest
      • Klaskish Inlet
      • Mahatta River Logging
      • Quatsino
      • Spruce Bay
      • Tsitika Valley
      • White River Provincial Park
  • Take Action
    • Send a Message
    • Sign Petition
    • Sign a Resolution
  • Store
  • Donate